All Roads Lead To Him
by KlausDamonCrush
Summary: New Moon just came to a whole new level...and ending. New Moon with a twist.
1. Chapter 1

A/N I know I know you don't like author notes and most of u are just going to dkip but I had to say two things

Everything in _italics _is from New Moon and NOT written by me

No duh I am not the owner of Twilight or its companions

Now enjoy the show or story or whatever…

**P.S This whole chapter is a New Moon recap don't want to read skip ahead **

**Chapter One**

_WE BEGAN THE STEEP CLIMB, AND THE ROAD GREW CONGESTED. As we wound higher, the cars became too close together for Alice to weave insanely between them anymore. We slowed to a crawl behind a little tan Peugeot._

_"Alice," I moaned. The clock on the dash seemed to be speeding up._

_"It's the only way in," she tried soothe me. But her voice was too strained to comfort._

_The cars continued to edge forward, one car length at a time. The sun beamed down brilliantly, seemingalready overhead._

_The cars crept one by one toward the city. As we got closer, I could see cars parked by the side of theroad with people getting out to walk the test of the way. At first I thought it was justimpatience—something I could easily understand. But then we came around a switchback, and I could see the filled parking lot outside the city wall, the crowds of people walking through the gates. No onewas being allowed to drive through._

_"Alice," I whispered urgently._

_"I know," she said. Her face was chiseled from ice._

_Now that I was looking, and we were crawling slowly enough to see, I could tell that it was very windy._

_The people crowding toward the gate gripped their hats and tugged their hair out of their faces. Theirclothes billowed around them. I also noticed that the color red was everywhere. Red shirts, red hats, redflags dripping like long ribbons beside the gate, whipping in the wind—as I watched, the brilliant crimsonscarf one woman had tied around her hair was caught in a sudden gust. It twisted up into the air aboveher, writhing like it was alive. She reached for it, jumping in the air, but it continued to flutter higher, apatch of bloody color against the dull, ancient walls._

_"Bella." Alice spoke quickly in a fierce, low voice. "I can't see what the guard here will decide now—ifthis doesn't work, you're going to have to go in alone. You're going to have to run. Just keep asking forthe Palazzo dei Priori, and running in the direction they tell you. Don't get lost.""Palazzo dei Priori, Palazzo dei Priori," I repeated the name over and over again, trying to get it down._

_"Or 'the clock tower,' if they speak English. I'll go around and try to find a secluded spot somewherebehind the city where I can go over the wall."I nodded. "Palazzo dei Priori.""Edward will be under the clock tower, to the north of the square. There's a narrow alleyway on theright, and he'll be in the shadow there. You have to get his attention before he can move into the sun."I nodded furiously._

_Alice was near the front of the line. A man in a navy blue uniform was directing the flow of traffic, turningthe cars away from the full lot. They U-turned and headed back to find a place beside the road. Then itwas Alice's turn._

_The uniformed man motioned lazily, not paying attention. Alice accelerated, edging around him andheading for the gate. He shouted something at us, but held his ground, waving frantically to keep the nextcar from following our bad example._

_The man at the gate wore a matching uniform. As we approached him, the throngs of tourists passed,crowding the sidewalks, staring curiously at the pushy, flashy Porsche._

_The guard stepped into the middle of the street. Alice angled the car carefully before she came to a fullstop. The sun beat against my window, and she was in shadow. She swiftly reached behind the seat andgrabbed something from her bag._

_The guard came around the car with an irritated expression, and tapped on her window angrily._

_She rolled the window down halfway, and I watched him do a double take when he saw the face behindthe dark glass._

_"I'm sorry, only tour buses allowed in the city today, miss," he said in English, with a heavy accent. Hewas apologetic, now, as if he wished he had better news for the strikingly beautiful woman._

_"It's a private tour," Alice said, flashing an alluring smile. She reached her hand out cf the window, intothe sunlight. I froze, until I realized she was wearing an elbow-length, tan glove. She took his hand, stillraised from tapping her window, and pulled it into the car. She put something into his palm, and foldedhis fingers around it._

_His face was dazed as he retrieved his hand and stared at the thick roll of money he now held. Theoutside bill was a thousand dollar bill._

_"Is this a joke?" he mumbled._

_Alice's smile was blinding. "Only if you think it's funny."He looked at her, his eyes staring wide. I glanced nervously at the clock on the dash. If Edward stuck tohis plan, we had only five minutes left._

_"I'm in a wee bit of a hurry," she hinted, still smiling._

_The guard blinked twice, and then shoved the money inside his vest. He took a step away from thewindow and waved us on. None of the passing people seemed to notice the quiet exchange. Alice droveinto the city, and we both sighed in relief._

_The street was very narrow, cobbled with the same color stones as the faded cinnamon brown buildingsthat darkened the street with their shade. It had the feel of an alleyway. Red flags decorated the walls,spaced only a few yards apart, flapping in the wind that whistled through the narrow lane._

_It was crowded, and the foot traffic slowed our progress._

_"Just a little farther," Alice encouraged me; I was gripping the door handle, ready to throw myself into thestreet as soon as she spoke the word._

_She drove in quick spurts and sudden stops, and the people in the crowd shook their fists at us and saidangry words that I was glad I couldn't understand. She turned onto a little path that couldn't have beenmeant for cars; shocked people had to squeeze into doorways as we scraped by. We found anotherstreet at the end. The buildings were taller here; they leaned together overhead so that no sunlighttouched the pavement—the thrashing red flags on either side nearly met. The crowd was thicker herethan anywhere else. Alice stopped the car. I had the door open before we were at a standstill._

_She pointed to where the street widened into a patch of bright openness. "There—we're at the southernend of the square. Run straight across, to the right of the clock tower. I'll find a way around—"Her breath caught suddenly, and when she spoke again, her voice was a hiss. "They're everywhere?"I froze in place, but she pushed me out of the car. "Forget about them. You have two minutes. Go, Bella,go!" she shouted, climbing out of the car as she spoke._

_I didn't pause to watch Alice melt into the shadows. I didn't stop to close my door behind me. I shoved a heavy woman out of my way and ran flat out, head down, paying little attention to anything but the uneven stones beneath my feet._

_Coming out of the dark lane, I was blinded by the brilliant sunlight beating down into the principal plaza._

_The wind whooshed into me, flinging my hair into my eyes and blinding me further. It was no wonder that I didn't see the wall of flesh until I'd smacked into it._

_There was no pathway, no crevice between the close pressed bodies. I pushed against them furiously, fighting the hands that shoved back. I heard exclamations of irritation and even pain as I battled my way through, but none were in a language I understood. The faces were a blur of anger and surprise, surrounded by the ever-present red. A blond woman scowled at me, and the red scarf coiled around her neck looked like a gruesome wound. A child, lifted on a man's shoulders to see over the crowd, grinned down at me, his lips distended over a set of plastic vampire fangs._

_The throng jostled around me, spinning me the wrong direction. I was glad the clock was so visible, or I'd never keep my course straight. But both hands on the clock pointed up toward the pitiless sun, and, though I shoved viciously against the crowd, I knew I was too late. I wasn't halfway across. I wasn't going to make it. I was stupid and slow and human, and we were all going to die because of it._

_I hoped Alice would get out. I hoped that she would see me from some dark shadow and know that Ihad failed, so she could go home to Jasper._

_I listened, above the angry exclamations, trying to hear the sound of discovery: the gasp, maybe the scream, as Edward came into someone's view._

_But there was a break in the crowd—I could see a bubble of space ahead. I pushed urgently toward it, not realizing till I bruised my shins against the bricks that there was a wide, square fountain set into the center of the plaza._

_I was nearly crying with relief as I flung my leg over the edge and ran through the knee-deep water. It sprayed all around me as I thrashed my way across the pool. Even in the sun, the wind was glacial, and the wet made the cold actually painful. But the fountain was very wide; it let me cross the center of the square and then some in mere seconds. I didn't pause when I hit the far edge—I used the low wall as aspring board, throwing myself into the crowd._

_They moved more readily for me now, avoiding the icy water that splattered from my dripping clothes asI ran. I glanced up at the clock again._

_A deep, booming chime echoed through the square. It throbbed in the stones under my feet. Children cried, covering their ears. And I started screaming as I ran._

_"Edward!" I screamed, knowing it was useless. The crowd was too loud, and my voice was breathless with exertion. But I couldn't stop screaming._

_The clock tolled again. I ran past a child in his mother's arms—his hair was almost white in the dazzling sunlight. A circle of tall men, all wearing red blazers, called out warnings as I barreled through them. The clock tolled again._

_On the other side of the men in blazers, there was a break in the throng, space between the sightseers who milled aimlessly around me. My eyes searched the dark narrow passage to the right of the wide square edifice under the tower. I couldn't see the street level—there were still too many people in the way. The clock tolled again._

_It was hard to see now. Without the crowd to break the wind, it whipped at my face and burned my eyes. I couldn't be sure if that was the reason behind my tears, or if I was crying in defeat as the clock tolled again._

_A little family of four stood nearest to the alley's mouth. The two girls wore crimson dresses, with matching ribbons tying their dark hair back. The father wasn't tall. It seemed like I could see something bright in the shadows, just over his shoulder. I hurtled toward them, trying to see past the stinging tears._

_The clock tolled, and the littlest girl clamped her hands over her ears._

_The older girl, just waist high on her mother, hugged her mother's leg and stared into the shadows behind them. As I watched, she tugged on her mother's elbow and pointed toward the darkness. The clock tolled, and I was so close now._

_I was close enough to hear her high-pitched voice. Her father stared at me in surprise as I bore down on them, rasping out Edward's name over and over again._

_The older girl giggled and said something to her mother, gesturing toward the shadows again impatiently._

_I swerved around the father—he clutched the baby out of my way—and sprinted for the gloomy breach behind them as the clock tolled over my head._

_"Edward, no!" I screamed, but my voice was lost in the roar of the chime._

_I could see him now. And I could see that he could not see me._

_It was really him, no hallucination this time. And I realized that my delusions were more flawed than I'd realized; they'd never done him justice._

_Edward stood, motionless as a statue, just a few feet from the mouth of the alley. His eyes were closed, the rings underneath them deep purple, his arms relaxed at his sides, his palms turned forward. His expression was very peaceful, like he was dreaming pleasant things. The marble skin of his chest was bare—there was a small pile of white fabric at his feet. The light reflecting from the pavement of the square gleamed dimly from his skin._

_I'd never seen anything more beautiful—even as I ran, gasping and screaming, I could appreciate that._

_And the last seven months meant nothing. And his words in the forest meant nothing. And it did not matter if he did not want me. I would never want anything but him, no matter how long I lived._

_The clock tolled, and he took a large stride toward the light._

_"No!" I screamed. "Edward, look at me!" He wasn't listening. He smiled very slightly. He raised his foot to take the step that would put him directly in the path of the sun._

_I slammed into him so hard that the force would have hurled me to the ground if his arms hadn't caught me and held me up. It knocked my breath out of me and snapped my head back._

_His dark eyes opened slowly as the clock tolled again._

_He looked down at me with quiet surprise._

_"Amazing," he said, his exquisite voice full of wonder, slightly amused. "Carlisle was right. "Edward," I tried to gasp, but my voice had no sound. "You've got to get back into the shadows. You have to move!" He seemed bemused. His hand brushed softly against my cheek. He didn't appear to notice that I was trying to force him back. I could have been pushing against the alley walls for all the progress I was making. The clock tolled, but he didn't react._

_It was very strange, for I knew we were both in mortal danger. Still, in that instant, I felt well. Whole. Icould feel my heart racing in my chest, the blood pulsing hot and fast through my veins again. My lungsfilled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin. It was like there had never been any hole in my chest. I was perfect—not healed, but as if there had been no wound in the first place._

_"I can't believe how quick it was. I didn't feel a thing—they're very good," he mused, closing his eyes again and pressing his lips against my hair. His voice was like honey and velvet. "Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath had no power yet upon thy beauty," he murmured, and I recognized the line spoken by Romeo in the tomb. The clock boomed out its final chime "You smell just exactly the same as always," he went on. "So maybe this is hell. I don't care. I'll take it." I'm not dead," I interrupted. "And neither are you! Please Edward, we have to move. They can't be far away!" I struggled in his arms, and his brow furrowed in confusion._

_"What was that?" he asked politely._

_"We're not dead, not yet! But we have to get out of here before the Volturi—"Comprehension flickered on his face as I spoke. Before I could finish, he suddenly yanked me away from the edge of the shadows, spinning me effortlessly so that my back was tight against the brick wall, and his back was to me as he faced away into the alley. His arms spread wide, protectively, in front of me._

_I peeked under his arm to see two dark shapes detach themselves from the gloom._

_"Greetings, gentlemen," Edward's voice was calm and pleasant, on the surface. "I don't think I'll be requiring your services today. I would appreciate it very much, however, if you would send my thanks to your masters." Shall we take this conversation to a more appropriate venue?" a smooth voice whispered menacingly._

_"I don't believe that will be necessary." Edward's voice was harder now. "I know your instructions, Felix._

_I haven't broken any rules." Felix merely meant to point out the proximity of the sun," the other shadow said in a soothing tone. They were both concealed within smoky gray cloaks that reached to the ground and undulated in the wind._

_"Let us seek better cover." I'll be right behind you," Edward said dryly. "Bella, why don't you go back to the square and enjoy the festival?""No, bring the girl," the first shadow said, somehow injecting a leer into his whisper._

_"I don't think so." The pretense of civility disappeared. Edward's voice was flat and icy. His weight shifted infinitesimally, and I could see that he was preparing to fight._

_"No." I mouthed the word._

_"Shh," he murmured, only for me_

_"Felix," the second, more reasonable shadow cautioned. "Not here." He turned to Edward. "Aro would simply like to speak with you again, if you have decided not to force our hand after all.""Certainly," Edward agreed. '"But the girl goes free." I'm afraid that's not possible," the polite shadow said regretfully. "We do have rules to obey." "Then I'm afraid that I'll be unable to accept Aro's invitation, Demetri.""That's just fine," Felix purred. My eyes were adjusting to the deep shade, and I could see that Felix was very big, tall and thick through the shoulders. His size reminded me of Emmett._

_"Aro will be disappointed," Demetri sighed._

_"I'm sure he'll survive the letdown," Edward replied._

_Felix and Demetri stole closer toward the mouth of the alley, spreading out slightly so they could come at Edward from two sides. They meant to force him deeper into the alley, to avoid a scene. No reflected light found access to their skin; they were safe inside their cloaks._

_Edward didn't move an inch. He was dooming himself by protecting me._

_Abruptly, Edward's head whipped around, toward the darkness of the winding alley, and Demetri and Felix did the same, in response to some sound or movement too subtle for my senses._

_"Let's behave ourselves, shall we?" a lilting voice suggested. "There are ladies present." Alice tripped lightly to Edward's side, her stance casual. There was no hint of any underlying tension. She looked so tiny, so fragile. Her little arms swung like a child's._

_Yet Demetri and Felix both straightened up, their cloaks swirling slightly as a gust of wind funneled through the alley. Felix's face soured. Apparently, they didn't like even numbers._

_"We're not alone," she reminded them._

_Demetri glanced over his shoulder. A few yards into the square, the little family, with the girls in their red dresses, was watching us. The mother was speaking urgently to her husband, her yes on the five of us._

_She looked away when Demetri met her gaze. The man walked a few steps farther into the plaza, and tapped one of the red-blazered men on the shoulder._

_Demetri shook his head. "Please, Edward, let's be reasonable," he said._

_"Let's," Edward agreed. "And we'll leave quietly now, with no one the wiser."Demetri sighed in frustration. "At least let us discuss this more privately."Six men in red now joined the family as they watched us with anxious expressions. I was very consciousof Edward's protective stance in front of me—sure that this was what caused their alarm. I wanted toscream to them to run._

_Edward's teeth came together audibly. "No."Felix smiled._

_"Enough."The voice was high, reedy, and n came from behind us._

_I peeked under Edward's other arm to see a small, dark shape coming toward us. By the way the edgesbillowed, I knew it would be another one of them. Who else?_

_At first I thought it was a young boy. The newcomer was as tiny as Alice, with lank, pale brown hair trimmed short. The body under the cloak—which was darker, almost black—was slim and androgynous._

_But the face was too pretty for a boy. The wide-eyed, full-lipped face would make a Botticelli angel looklike a gargoyle. Even allowing for the dull crimson irises._

_Her size was so insignificant that the reaction to her appearance confused me. Felix and Demetri relaxedimmediately, stepping back from their offensive positions to blend again with the shadows of theoverhanging walls._

_Edward dropped his arms and relaxed his position as well—but in defeat._

_"Jane," he sighed in recognition and resignation._

_Alice folded her arms across her chest, her expression impassive._

_"Follow me," Jane spoke again, her childish voice a monotone. She turned her back on us and driftedsilently into the dark._

_Felix gestured for us to go first, smirking._

_Alice walked after the little Jane at once. Edward wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me alongbeside her. The alley angled slightly downward as it narrowed. I looked up at him with frantic questionsin my eyes, but he just shook his head. Though I couldn't hear the others behind us, I was sure they werethere._

_"Well, Alice," Edward said conversationally as we walked. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see youhere.""It was my mistake," Alice answered in the same tone. "It was my job to set it right.""What happened?" His voice was polite, as if he were barely interested. I imagined this was due to thelistening ears behind us._

_"It's a long story." Alice's eyes flickered toward me and away. "In summary, she did jump off a cliff, butshe wasn't trying to kill herself. Bella's all about the extreme sports these days."I flushed and turned my eyes straight ahead, looking after the dark shadow that I could no longer see. Icould imagine what he was hearing in Alice's thoughts now. Near-drownings, stalking vampires,werewolf friends…"Hm," Edward said curtly, and the casual tone of his voice was gone._

_There was a loose curve to the alley, still slanting downward, so I didn't see the squared-off dead endcoming until we reached the flat, windowless, brick face. The little one called Jane was nowhere to beseen._

_Alice didn't hesitate, didn't break pace as she strode toward the wall. Then, with easy grace, she sliddown an open hole in the street._

_It looked like a drain, sunk into the lowest point of the paving. I hadn't noticed it until Alice disappeared,but the grate was halfway pushed aside. The hole was small, and black._

_I balked._

_"It's all right, Bella," Edward said in a low voice. "Alice will catch you." I eyed the hole doubtfully. I imagine he would have gone first, if Demetri and Felix hadn't been waiting,smug and silent, behind us._

_I crouched down, swinging my legs into the narrow gap._

_"Alice?" I whispered, voice trembling._

_"I'm right here, Bella," she reassured me. Her voice came from too far below to make me feel better._

_Edward took my wrists—his hands felt like stones in winter—and lowered me into the blackness._

_"Ready?" he asked._

_"Drop her," Alice called._

_I closed my eyes so I couldn't see the darkness, scrunching them together in terror, clamping my mouthshut so I wouldn't scream. Edward let me fall._

_It was silent and short. The air whipped past me for just half a second, and then, with a huff as I exhaled,Alice's waiting arms caught me._

_I was going to have bruises; her arms were very hard. She stood me upright._

_It was dim, but not black at the bottom. The light from the hole above provided a faint glow, reflectingwetly from the stones under my feet. The light vanished for a second, and then Edward was a faint, whiteradiance beside me. He put his arm around me, holding me close to his side, and began to tow me swiftlyforward. I wrapped both arms around his cold waist, and tripped and stumbled my way across theuneven stone surface. The sound of the heavy grate sliding over the drain hole behind us rang withmetallicfinality._

_The dim light from the street was quickly lost in the gloom. The sound of my staggering footsteps echoedthrough the black space; it sounded very wide, but I couldn't be sure. There were no sounds other thanmy frantic heartbeat and my feet on the wet stones—except for once, when an impatient sigh whisperedfrom behind me._

_Edward held me tightly. He reached his free hand across his body to hold my face, too, his smooththumb tracing across my lips. Now and then, I felt his face press into my hair. I realized that this was theonly reunion we would get, and I clutched myself closer to him._

_For now, it felt like he wanted me, and that was enough to offset the horror of the subterranean tunneland the prowling vampires behind us. It was probably no more than guilt—the same guilt that compelledhim to come here to die when he'd believed that it was his fault that I'd killed myself. But I felt his lipspress silently against my forehead, and I didn't care what the motivation was. At least I could be with himagain before I died. That was better than a long life._

_I wished I could ask him exactly what was going to happen now. I wanted desperately to know how wewere going to die—as if that would somehow make it better, knowing in advance. But I couldn't speak,even in a whisper, surrounded as we were. The others could hear everything—my every breath, myevery heartbeat._

_The path beneath our feet continued to slant downward, taking us deeper into the ground, and it mademe claustrophobic. Only Edward's hand, soothing against my face, kept me from screaming out loud._

_I couldn't tell where the light was coming from, but it slowly turned dark gray instead of black. We were in a low, arched tunnel. Long trails of ebony moisture seeped down the gray stones, like they werebleeding ink._

_I was shaking, and I thought it was from fear. It wasn't until my teeth started to chatter together that Irealized I was cold. My clothes were still wet, and the temperature underneath the city was wintry. Aswas Edward's skin._

_He realized this at the same time I did, and let go of me, keeping only my hand._

_"N-n-no," I chattered, throwing my arms around him. I didn't care if I froze. Who knew how long we hadleft?_

_His cold hand chafed against my arm, trying to warm me with the friction._

_We hurried through the tunnel, or it felt like hurrying to me. My slow progress irritated someone—Iguessed Felix—and I heard him heave a sigh now and then._

_At the end of the tunnel was a grate—the iron bars were rusting, but thick as my arm. A small door madeof thinner, interlaced bars was standing open. Edward ducked through and hurried on to a larger, brighterstone room. The grille slammed shut with a clang, followed by the snap of a lock. I was too afraid tolook behind me._

_On the other side of the long room was a low, heavy wooden door. It was very thick—as I could tellbecause it, too, stood open._

_We stepped through the door, and I glanced around me in surprise, relaxing automatically. Beside me,Edward tensed, his jaw clenched tight._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**_  
_

_WE WERE IN A BRIGHTLY LIT, UNREMARKABLE HALLWAY. The walls were off-white, the floor carpeted in industrial gray. Common rectangular fluorescent lights were spaced evenly along the ceiling. It was warmer here, for which I was grateful. This hall seemed very benign after the gloom of the ghoulish stone sewers. _

_Edward didn't seem to agree with my assessment. He glowered darkly down the long hallway, toward the slight, black shrouded figure at the end, standing by an elevator. He pulled me along, and Alice walked on my other side. The heavy door creaked shut behind us, and then there was the thud of a bolt sliding home. _

_Jane waited by the elevator, one hand holding the doors open for us. Her expression was apathetic. _

_Once inside the elevator, the three vampires that belonged to the Volturi relaxed further. They threw back their cloaks, letting the hoods fall back on their shoulders. Felix and Demetri were both of a slightly olive complexion—it looked odd combined with their chalky pallor. Felix's black hair was cropped short, but Demetri's waved to his shoulders. Their irises were deep crimson around the edges, darkening until they were black around the pupil. Under the shrouds, their clothes were modern, pale, and nondescript. I cowered in the corner, cringing against Edward. His hand still rubbed against my arm. He never took his eyes off Jane. _

_The elevator ride was short; we stepped out into what looked like a posh office reception area. The walls were paneled in wood, the floors carpeted in thick, deep green. There were no windows, but large, brightly lit paintings of the Tuscan countryside hung everywhere a replacements. Pale leather couches were arranged in cozy groupings, and the glossy tables held crystal vases full of vibrantly colored bouquets. The flowers' smell reminded me of a funeral home. _

_In the middle of the room was a high, polished mahogany counter. I gawked in astonishment at the woman behind it. _

_She was tall, with dark skin and green eyes. She would have been very pretty in any other company—but not here. Because she was every bit as human as I was. I couldn't comprehend what this human woman was doing here, totally at ease, surrounded by vampires. _

_She smiled politely in welcome. "Good afternoon, Jane," she said. There was no surprise in her face as she glanced at Jane's company. Not Edward, his bare chest glinting dimly in the white lights, or even me, disheveled and comparatively hideous. _

_Jane nodded. "Gianna." She continued toward a set of double doors in the back of the room, and we followed. _

_As Felix passed the desk, he winked at Gianna, and she giggled. _

_On the other side of the wooden doors was a different kind of reception. The pale boy in the pearl gray suit could have been Jane's twin. His hair was darker, and his lips were not as full, but he was just as lovely. He came forward to meet us. He smiled, reaching for her. "Jane." _

_"Alec," she responded, embracing the boy. They kissed each other's cheeks on both sides. Then he looked at us. _

_"They send you out for one and you come back with two… and a half," he noted, looking at me. "Nice work." _

_She laughed—the sound sparkled with delight like a baby's cooing. _

_"Welcome back, Edward," Alec greeted him. "You seem in a better mood." _

_"Marginally," Edward agreed in a flat voice. I glanced at Edward's hard face, and wondered how his mood could have been darker before. _

_Alec chuckled, and examined me as I clung to Edward's side. "And this is the cause of all the trouble?" he asked, skeptical. _

_Edward only smiled, his expression contemptuous. Then he froze. _

_"Dibs," Felix called casually from behind. _

_Edward turned, a low snarl building deep in his chest. Felix smiled—his hand was raised, palm up; he curled his fingers twice, inviting Edward forward. _

_Alice touched Edward's arm. "Patience," she cautioned him. _

_They exchanged a long glance, and I wished I could hear what she was telling him. I figured that it was something to do with not attacking Felix, because Edward took a deep breath and turned back to Alec. _

_"Aro will be so pleased to see you again," Alec said, as if nothing had passed. _

_"Let's not keep him waiting," Jane suggested. _

_Edward nodded once. _

_Alec and Jane, holding hands, led the way down yet another wide, ornate hall—would there ever be an end? _

_They ignored the doors at the end of the hall—doors entirely sheathed in gold—stopping halfway down the hall and sliding aside a piece of the paneling to expose a plain wooden door. It wasn't locked. Alec held it open for Jane. _

_I wanted to groan when Edward pulled me through to the other side of the door. It was the same ancient stone as the square, the alley, and the sewers. And it was dark and cold again. _

_The stone antechamber was not large. It opened quickly into a brighter, cavernous room, perfectly round like a huge castle turret… which was probably exactly what it was. _

_Two stories up, long window slits threw thin rectangles of bright sunlight onto the stone floor below. _

_There were no artificial lights. The only furniture in the room were several massive wooden chairs, like thrones, that were spaced unevenly, flush with the curving stone walls. In the very center of the circle, in a slight depression, was another drain. I wondered if they used it as an exit, like the hole in the street. _

_The room was not empty. A handful of people were convened in seemingly relaxed conversation. The murmur of low, smooth voices was a gentle hum in the air. As I watched, a pair of pale women in summer dresses paused in a patch of light, and, like prisms, their skin threw the light in rainbow sparkles against the sienna walls. _

_The exquisite faces all turned toward our party as we entered the room. Most of the immortals were dressed in inconspicuous pants and shirts—things that wouldn't stick out at all on the streets below. But the man who spoke first wore one of the long robes. It was pitch-black, and brushed against the floor. For a moment, I thought his long, jet-black hair was the hood of his cloak. _

_"Jane, dear one, you've returned!" he cried in evident delight. His voice was just a soft sighing. He drifted forward, and the movement flowed with such surreal grace that I gawked, my mouth hanging open. Even Alice, whose every motion looked like dancing, could not compare. _

_I was only more astonished as he floated closer and I could see his face. It was not like the unnaturally attractive faces that surrounded him (for he did not approach us alone; the entire group converged around him, some following, and some walking ahead of him with the alert manner of bodyguards). I couldn't decide if his face was beautiful or not. I suppose the features were perfect. But he was as different from the vampires beside him as they were from me. His skin was translucently white, like onionskin, and it looked just as delicate—it stood in shocking contrast to the long black hair that framed his face. I felt a strange, horrifying urge to touch his cheek, to see if it was softer than Edward's or Alice's, or if it was powdery, like chalk. His eyes were red, the same as the others around him, but the color was clouded, milky; I wondered if his vision was affected by the haze. He glided to Jane, took her face in his papery hands, kissed her lightly on her full lips, and then floated back a step. _

_"Yes, Master." Jane smiled; the expression made her look like an angelic child. "I brought him back alive, just as you wished." _

_"Ah, Jane." He smiled, too. "You are such a comfort to me." He turned his misty eyes toward us, and the smile brightened—became ecstatic. "And Alice and Bella, too!" he rejoiced, clapping his thin hands together. "This is a happy surprise! Wonderful!" _

_I stared in shock as he called our names informally, as if we were old friends dropping in for an unexpected visit. _

_He turned to our hulking escort. "Felix, be a dear and tell my brothers about our company. I'm sure they wouldn't want to miss this." _

_"Yes, Master." Felix nodded and disappeared back the way we had come. _

_"You see, Edward?" The strange vampire turned and smiled at Edward like a fond but scolding grandfather. "What did I tell you? Aren't you glad that I didn't give you what you wanted yesterday?" _

_"Yes, Aro, I am," he agreed, tightening his arm around my waist. _

_"I love a happy ending." Aro sighed. "They are so rare. But I want the whole story. How did this happen? Alice?" He turned to gaze at Alice with curious, misty eyes. "Your brother seemed to think you infallible, but apparently there was some mistake." _

_"Oh, I'm far from infallible." She flashed a dazzling smile. She looked perfectly at ease, except that her hands were balled into tight little fists. "As you can see today, I cause problems as often as I cure them."_

_"You're too modest," Aro chided. "I've seen some of your more amazing exploits, and I must admit I've never observed anything like your talent. Wonderful!" Alice flickered a glance at Edward. Aro did not miss it. _

_"I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced properly at all, have we? It's just that I feel like I know you already, and I tend get ahead of myself. Your brother introduced us yesterday, in a peculiar way. You see, I share some of your brother's talent, only I am limited in a way that he is not." Aro shook his head; his tone was envious. _

_"And also exponentially more powerful," Edward added dryly. He looked at Alice as he swiftly explained. "Aro needs physical contact to hear your thoughts, but he hears much more than I do. You know I can only hear what's passing through your head in the moment. Aro hears every thought your mind has ever had." Alice raised her delicate eyebrows, and Edward inclined his head. Aro didn't miss that either. "But to be able to hear from a distance…" Aro sighed, gesturing toward the two of them, and the exchange that had just taken place. "That would be so convenient." Aro looked over our shoulders. All the other heads turned in the same direction, including Jane, Alec, and Demetri, who stood silently beside us. I was the slowest to turn. Felix was back, and behind him floated two more black-robed men. Both looked very much like Aro, one even had the same flowing black hair. The other had a shock ofsnow-white hair—the same shade as his face—that brushed against his shoulders. Their faces had identical, paper-thin skin. _

_The trio from Carlisle's painting was complete, unchanged by the last three hundred years since it was painted. _

_"Marcus, Caius, look!" Aro crooned. "Bella is alive after all, and Alice is here with her! Isn't that wonderful?" _

_Neither of the other two looked as if wonderful would be their first choice of words. The dark-haired man seemed utterly bored, like he'd seen too many millennia of Aro's enthusiasm. The other's hice was sour under the snowy hair. _

_Their lack of interest did not curb Aro's enjoyment. _

_"Let us have the story," Aro almost sang in his feathery voice. _

_The white-haired ancient vampire drifted away, gliding toward one of the wooden thrones. The other paused beside Aro, and he reached his hand out, at first I thought to take Aro's hand. But he just touched Aro's palm briefly and then dropped his hand to his side. Aro raised one black brow. I wondered how his papery skin did not crumple in the effort. _

_Edward snorted very quietly, and Alice looked at him, curious. _

_"Thank you, Marcus," Aro said. "That's quite interesting." _

_I realized, a second late, that Marcus was letting Aro know his thoughts. _

_Marcus didn't look interested. He glided away from Aro to join the one who must be Caius, seated against the wall. Two of the attending vampires followed silently behind him—bodyguards, like I'd thought before. I could see that the two women in the sundresses had gone to stand beside Caius in the same manner. The idea of any vampire needing a guard was faintly ridiculous to me, but maybe the ancient ones were as frail as their skin suggested. _

_Aro was shaking his head. "Amazing,"' he said. "Absolutely amazing." _

_Alice's expression was frustrated. Edward turned to her and explained again in a swift, low voice. _

_"Marcus sees relationships. He's surprised by the intensity of ours." _

_Aro smiled. "So convenient," he repeated to himself. Then he spoke to us. "It takes quite a bit to surprise Marcus, I can assure you." _

_I looked at Marcus's dead face, and I believed that. _

_"It's just so difficult to understand, even now," Aro mused, staring at Edward's arm wrapped around me. _

_It was hard for me to follow Aro's chaotic train of thought. I struggled to keep up. "How can you stand so close to het like that?" _

_"It's not without effort," Edward answered calmly. _

_"But still—la tua cantante! What a waste!" _

_Edward chuckled once without humor. "I look at it more as a price." _

_Aro was skeptical. "A very high price." _

_"Opportunity cost." _

_Aro laughed. "If I hadn't smelled her through your memories, I wouldn't have believed the call of anyone's blood could be so strong. I've never felt anything like it myself. Most of us would trade much for such a gift, and yet you…" _

_"Waste it," Edward finished, his voice sarcastic now. _

_Aro laughed again. "Ah, how I miss my friend Carlisle! You remind me of him—only he was not so angry." _

_"Carlisle outshines me in many other ways as well." _

_"I certainly never thought to see Carlisle bested for self-control of all things, but you put him to shame." _

_"Hardly." Edward sounded impatient. As if he were tired of the preliminaries. It made me more afraid; I couldn't help but try to imagine what he expected would follow. _

_"I am gratified by his success," Aro mused. "Your memories of him are quite a gift for me, though they astonish me exceedingly. I am surprised by how it… pleases me, his success in this unorthodox path he's chosen. I expected that he would waste, weaken with time. I'd scoffed at his plan to find others who would share his peculiar vision. Yet, somehow, I'm happy to be wrong." _

_Edward didn't reply. _

_"But your restraint!" Aro sighed. "I did not know such strength was possible. To inure yourself against such a siren call, not just once but again and again—if I had not felt it myself, I would not have believed." Edward gazed back at Aro's admiration with no expression. I knew his face well enough—time had not changed that—to guess at something seething beneath the surface. I fought to keep my breathing even. "Just remembering how she appeals to you…" Aro chuckled. "It makes me thirsty." Edward tensed. "Don't be disturbed," Aro reassured him. "I mean her no harm. But I am so curious, about one thing in particular." He eyed me with bright interest. "May I?" he asked eagerly, lifting one hand. _

_"Ask her," Edward suggested in a flat voice. _

_"Of course, how rude of me!" Aro exclaimed. "Bella," he addressed me directly now. "I'm fascinated that you are the one exception to Edward's impressive talent—so very interesting that such a thing should occur! And I was wondering, since our talents are similar in many ways, if you would be so kind as to allow me to try—to see if you are an exception for me, as well?" _

_My eyes flashed up to Edward's face in terror. Despite Aro's overt politeness, I didn't believe I really had a choice. I was horrified at the thought of allowing him to touch me, and yet also perversely intrigued by the chance to feel his strange skin. _

_Edward nodded in encouragement—whether because he was sure Aro would not hurt me, or because there was no choice, I couldn't tell. _

_I turned back to Aro and raised my hand slowly in front of me. It was trembling. _

_He glided closer, and I believe he meant his expression to be reassuring. But his papery features were too strange, too alien and frightening, to reassure. The look on his face was more confident than his words had been. _

_Aro reached out, as if to shake my hand, and pressed his insubstantial-looking skin against mine. It was hard, but felt brittle—shale rather than granite—and even colder than I expected. _

_His filmy eyes smiled down at mine, and it was impossible to look away. They were mesmerizing in an odd, unpleasant way. _

_Aro's face altered as I watched. The confidence wavered and became first doubt, then incredulity before he calmed it into a friendly mask. _

_"So very interesting," he said as he released my hand and drifted back. _

_My eyes flickered to Edward, and, though his face was composed, I thought he seemed a little smug. _

_Aro continued to drift wnh a thoughtful expression. He was quiet for a moment, his eyes flickering between the three of us. Then, abruptly, he shook his head. _

_"A first," he said to himself "I wonder if she is immune to our other talents… Jane, dear?" _

_"No!" Edward snarled the word. Alice grabbed his arm with a restraining hand. He shook her off. _

_Little Jane smiled up happily at Aro. "Yes, Master?" _

_Edward was truly snarling now, the sound ripping and tearing from him, glaring at Aro with baleful eyes. _

_The room had gone still, everyone watching him with amazed disbelief, as if he were committing some embarrassing social faux pas. I saw Felix grin hopefully and move a step forward. Aro glanced at him once, and he froze in place, his grin turning to a sulky expression. _

_Then he spoke to Jane. "I was wondering, my dear one, if Bella is immune to you." _

_I could barely hear Aro over Edward's furious growls. He let go of me, moving to hide me from their view. Caius ghosted in our direction, with his entourage, to watch. Jane turned toward us with a beatific smile. _

_"Don't!" Alice cried as Edward launched himself at the little girl. Before I could react, before anyone could jump between them, before Aro's bodyguards could tense, Edward was on the ground. No one had touched him, but he was on the stone floor writhing in obvious agony, while I stared in horror. Jane was smiling only at him now, and it all clicked together. What Alice had said about formidable gifts, why everyone treated Jane with such deference, and why Edward had thrown himself in her path before she could do that to me. _

_"Stop!" I shrieked, my voice echoing in the silence, jumping forward to put myself between them. But Alice threw her arms around me in an unbreakable grasp and ignored my struggles. No sound escaped Edward's lips as he cringed against the stones. It felt like my head would explode from the pain of watching this. _

_"Jane," Aro recalled her in a tranquil voice. She looked up quickly, still smiling with pleasure, her eyes questioning. As soon as Jane looked away, Edward was still. Aro inclined his head toward me. Jane turned her smile in my direction. I didn't even meet her gaze. I watched Edward from the prison of Alice's arms, still struggling pointlessly. _

_"He's fine," Alice whispered in a tight voice. As she spoke, he sat up, and then sprang lightly to his feet. His eyes met mine, and they were horror-struck. At first I thought the horror was for what he had just suffered. But then he looked quickly at Jane, and back to me—and his face relaxed into relief. I looked at Jane, too, and she no longer smiled. She glared at me, her jaw clenched with the intensity of her focus. I shrank back, waiting for the pain. _

_Nothing happened. _

_Edward was by my side again. He touched Alice's arm, and she surrendered me to him. Aro started to laugh. "Ha, ha. ha," he chuckled. "This is wonderful!" Jane hissed in frustration, leaning forward like she was preparing to spring. "Don't be put out, dear one," Aro said in a comforting tone, placing a powder-light hand on her shoulder. She confounds us all." Jane's upper lip curled back ever her teeth as she continued to glare at me. _

_"Ha, ha, ha," Aro chortled again. "You're very brave, Edward, to endure in silence. I asked Jane to do that to me once—just out of curiosity." He shook his head in admiration. Edward glared, disgusted. _

_"So what do we do with you now?" Aro sighed. Edward and Alice stiffened. This was the part they'd been waiting for. I began to tremble. _

_"I don't suppose there's any chance that you've changed your mind?" Aro asked Edward hopefully. _

_"Your talent would be an excellent addition to our little company." Edward hesitated. From the corner of my eye, I saw both Felix and Jane grimace. _

_Edward seemed to weigh each word before he spoke it. "I'd… rather… not." _

_"Alice?" Aro asked, still hopeful. "Would you perhaps be interested in joining with us?" _

_"No, thank you," Alice said. _

_"And you, Bella?" Aro raised his eyebrows. Edward hissed, low in my ears. I stared at Aro blankly. Was he joking? Or was he really asking me if I wanted to stay for dinner? It was the white-haired Caius who broke the silence. _

_"What?" he demanded of Aro; his voice, though no more than a whisper, was flat. _

_"Caius, surely you see the potential," Aro chided him affectionately. "I haven't seen a prospective talent so promising since we found Jane and Alec. Can you imagine the possibilities when she is one of us?" Caius looked away with a caustic expression. Jane's eyes sparked with indignation at the comparison. _

_Edward fumed beside me. I could hear a rumble in his chest, building toward a growl. I couldn't let his temper get him hurt. _

_"No, thank you," I spoke up in barely more than a whisper, my voice breaking in fright. _

_Aro sighed. "That's unfortunate. Such a waste." _

_Edward hissed. "Join or die, is that it? I suspected as much when we were brought to this room. So much for your laws."_

"Young Edward how could you say such things," Aro's mouth was in a fake surprised look.

"Come on Aro you were waiting for this to happen all along, you double faced bastard," I couldn't even recognize the Edward I knew to this one in front of me now.

I am couple of seconds a couple things happened.

Demitri ripped Edwards head off and setting him ablaze saying "Don't insult the Masters."

Alice cried out and was trying to get free from Felix.

I somehow someway landed in Aro's arms.

Alice seemed to see that I was in Aro's arms and was now trying to get towards me, the Edward bonfire long forgotten.

"Bella!" Alice screamed. I was so focused on Alice that I didn't notice a pair of fangs at my neck. I tried breaking free but it was no use. I could feel Aro's breath on my neck his fangs barely touching my neck.

"You promise that you will be a member of my guard and I will leave Bella alone," Aro said grazing my skin with his fangs again.

"Alice don't," I tried to plead with her, but she wouldn't look at me.

"Fine I will be a member of your guard," Alice then looked at me "Let her go."

I was out of Aro's iron grip in a flash. His arms were being replaced with Demirti's who was leading me out the door. I was pushed out into the hallway and back to the elevator. We never made it thought.

Once Demirti knew he was out of hearing range he pushed me against the wall. "You're too beautiful for your own good," and then the second time that day I could fell fangs at my neck. His fangs pierced my neck and filled my body with his venom.

This was now my reality for the next few days. Fire; the feeling of being burned alive.


End file.
